The tennis action continues at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain. We’ve seen plenty of exciting matches so far, but I expect the level of play to get even better as the players in the top form continue to advance.
Two Americans will face off in Spain as Reilly Opelka, the world number 17, and Sebastian Korda, the world number 30, face off. Reilly Opelka is 24 years old and currently, the highest-ranked American in the world. Let’s take a look at tomorrow’s schedule to find more winning tennis picks.
Sebastian Korda vs. Reilly Opelka
Tuesday, May 03, 2022 – 12:35 PM EDT at Stadium 3
Reilly Opelka
Sebastian Korda is 21 years old and the top-rated American prospect in the world. Korda has a chance to prove that his time is now against the top American player. Surprisingly, these two have yet to meet on the professional tour level. This should be a great match on Korda's preferred surface of the clay.
Reilly Opelka made it to the round of 16 in his last tournament in Munich Germany. Opelka fell to the German Oscar Otte on his home court. En route to the round of 16, Opelka took out big names and fellow big servers, Nick Kyrgios and John Isner. Today he will face a more well-rounded player in Sebastian Korda.
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Opelka has won 4 titles in his career, 3 on hard courts, and one on the clay. Opelka won the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, in April. Opelka defeated John Isner. The fact that these 2 big servers made it to the clay-court finals shows how fast the clay was in Houston.
Those results don't make me optimistic for Opelka’s chances on European clay and are not predictive of anything for the rest of the clay swing on the Road to Roland Garros.
Sebastian Korda
Sebastian Korda made the semifinals in Estoril, Portugal last week. There he fell to another American player, Frances Tiafoe. En route to the semifinals, Korda scored a big win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is in the top 10 in the world.
Korda's youthful talent continues to shine through, and as he gains more experience, he's expected to be the highest-ranked American we have seen in years. Korda will be in the top 10, the question is when not if.
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Korda will definitely have the surface advantage here on the clay courts. Reilly Opelka is arguably the hardest server on tour and dishes up some unreturnable serves. Even his second serve gives him a huge advantage because, with his height, he's able to create incredible kicks in order to gain an advantageous court position.
Of all the big-serving Americans, the "Serve Bots" so to speak, Opelka has the strongest groundstrokes. He is adept off both wings. Of course, at his height, he is not the most agile of players. In contrast, Korda is the best American big-serving player from the baseline. Korda has one tournament win in his career.
It was on the clay in Italy at the Emilia-Romagna Open. Korda won in 2021, is the defending champion, and will return to defend his ranking points later this month.
What Is Opelka vs. Korda's Prediction?
Every ATP player at this point in history on the tour has a big serve, but Sebastian Korda definitely has a well-rounded game. Korda has the ability to play offense and defense off the baseline.
Korda definitely will have the advantage in quickness and court coverage. Korda will want to extend points. Korda should have the advantage in every long rally. Korda is much more accomplished from the baseline and will need to keep Opelka's serve in play in order to be able to get the win.
As the match continues, if you see plenty of long rallies, you will know that Korda has tipped the scales in his favor. Although Opelka has accomplished more, I like Sebastian Korda to get the win here today.
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Korda facing Opelka on clay will be a huge advantage for him in these players' first meetings. As I've mentioned before, Korda will have the advantage in all extended rallies and I believe that he will have sufficient return skills to be able to get to longer rallies on Opelka service games.
Korda also has an excellent serve so he should be able to hold enough to put more pressure on Opelka than Opelka puts on Korda. In a battle of server vs baseliner, give me the baseliner on clay. Our pick of today on the ATP Mutua Madrid Open is Sebastian Korda -1.5 games as displayed on the ATP odds board.
ATP Pick: Sebastian Korda -1.5 Games (-108) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
